Egg the pug's owner admits to dumping his body in a river.

The owner of Egg the pug, Qiushi Xia, has pleaded guilty to making a false report to police about the abduction of his 14-month-old puppy. He admitted to dumping the dog’s body in a Sydney river after it choked to death on a dog treat.

It was early February when Xia claimed Egg had been abducted by three men, armed with knives, during a late-night walk around Sydney Olympic Park.

The city stopped. People started looking for Egg, posting images of the pug with his little face and his handsome red collar on social media. The story went viral and the police launched an investigation.

Everyone wanted justice served to the three mystery men evil enough to steal a vulnerable puppy with a face like Egg’s.

PLEASE SHARE: Australia is coming together to find this adorable, 14-week-old pug that was stolen in Sydney’s Olympic Park. Social media users have expressed their sadness at Egg’s disappearance, with NSW Police’s Facebook plea shared more than 2,000 times. More on this story via the link in bio ????

A post shared by mamamiaaus (@mamamiaaus) on Feb 9, 2017 at 10:09pm PST

Then, things became… complicated. It emerged that Egg was not in fact stolen but was most definitely still missing.

In late February, 29-year-old Xia was charged with making a false claim. His original story – that he was accosted by three men who stole his wallet and back pack and pet pupper – was found to be false.

Still, no one knew the fate of Egg.

Now, Xia is facing court and has admitted to dumping Egg’s body in a Sydney river after the pug choked on a dog treat.

Linda Buller, accidental hero of Bali’s lost dogs. Post continues below.

He said he made up the abduction story to save himself from telling his girlfriend about the dog’s death.

Outside court, he told Seven News Egg was the second dog he’d lost, and that the couple once owned another pug “Pepper” who also choked, this time on a dog toy, and died.

“I didn’t want my girlfriend to find out about her dog’s death cause he’s the second dog I’ve lost OK,” Xia told Seven News.

“I did all of this to cover the fact that the dog died.”

Poor Egg. Poor Pepper. And all our thoughts are with Xia’s girlfriend; how devastating.